Method and system for soft frequency reuse in a distributed antenna system

ABSTRACT

A method for routing and switching operator RF signals includes providing one or more Digital Remote Units (DRUs) and providing at least one Digital Access Unit (DAU) configured to communicate with at least one of the one or more DRUs. A first DRU is operable to communicate using a first set of frequencies characterized by a first frequency band over a first geographic footprint and a second set of frequencies characterized by a second frequency band different from the first frequency band over a second geographic footprint including and surrounding the first geographic footprint. A second DRU is operable to communicate using the first set of frequencies over a third geographical footprint and a third set of frequencies characterized by a third frequency band different from the first frequency band and the second frequency band over a fourth geographic footprint including and surrounding the third geographic footprint.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/894,309, filed May 14, 2013; which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/649,143, filed on May 18, 2012,entitled “Method and System for Soft Frequency Reuse in a DistributedAntenna System,” the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wireless communication systems employing Distributed Antenna Systems(DAS) are available. A DAS typically includes one or more host units,optical fiber cable or other suitable transport infrastructure, andmultiple remote antenna units. A radio base station is often employed atthe host unit location commonly known as a base station hotel, and theDAS provides a means for distribution of the base station's downlink anduplink signals among multiple remote antenna units. The DAS architecturewith routing of signals to and from remote antenna units can be eitherfixed or reconfigurable.

A DAS is advantageous from a signal strength and throughput perspectivebecause its remote antenna units are physically close to wirelesssubscribers. The benefits of a DAS include reducing average downlinktransmit power and reducing average uplink transmit power, as well asenhancing quality of service and data throughput.

Despite the progress made in wireless communications systems, a needexists for improved methods and systems related to wirelesscommunications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to wireless communicationsystems employing Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) as part of adistributed wireless network. More specifically, the present inventionrelates to a DAS utilizing Soft Frequency Reuse or Fractional FrequencyReuse techniques. In a particular embodiment, the present invention hasbeen applied to the reuse of communications frequencies in centralportions of adjacent DAS cells, improving system data rates andperformance. The methods and systems described herein are applicable toa variety of communications systems including systems utilizing variouscommunications standards.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method forrouting and switching operator RF signals is provided. The methodincludes providing one or more Digital Remote Units (DRUs), eachconfigured to receive one or more downlink radio frequencies and totransmit one or more uplink radio frequencies, and providing at leastone Digital Access Unit (DAU) configured to communicate with at leastone of the one or more DRUs. A first DRU in a first cell is operable tocommunicate using a first set of frequencies characterized by a firstfrequency band over a first geographic footprint and a second set offrequencies characterized by a second frequency band different from thefirst frequency band over a second geographic footprint including andsurrounding the first geographic footprint. A second DRU in a secondcell is operable to communicate using the first set of frequencies overa third geographical footprint and a third set of frequenciescharacterized by a third frequency band different from the firstfrequency band and the second frequency band over a fourth geographicfootprint including and surrounding the third geographic footprint.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method ofdistributing communications frequencies is provided. The method includesproviding a set of communications units and transmitting and receiving,from a first communications unit of the set of communications units, afirst set of frequencies characterized by a first frequency band and afirst geographic footprint and a second set of frequencies characterizedby a second frequency band different from the first frequency band and asecond geographic footprint larger than and at least partiallysurrounding the first geographic footprint. The method also includestransmitting, and receiving, from a second communications unit of theset of communications units, a third set of frequencies including one ormore frequencies in the first frequency band and a third geographicalfootprint and a fourth set of frequencies including one or morefrequencies in a third frequency band and a fourth geographicalfootprint larger than and at least partially surrounding the thirdgeographical footprint.

According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, acommunications system is provided. The communications system includes ahost unit and a first communications unit coupled to the host unit andoperable to transmit and receive communications using a first set offrequencies in a first frequency range and associated with a firstgeographical footprint and a second set of frequencies in a secondfrequency range and associated with a second geographical footprintlarger than the first geographical footprint. The communications systemalso includes a second communications unit coupled to the host unit andoperable to transmit and receive communications using one or more of thefirst set of frequencies in a region associated with a thirdgeographical footprint and a third set of frequencies in a thirdfrequency range and associated with a fourth geographical footprintlarger than the third geographical footprint.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method forrouting and switching operator RF signals is provided. The methodincludes providing one or more Digital Remote Units (DRUs), eachconfigured to receive one or more downlink radio frequencies and totransmit one or more uplink radio frequencies and providing at least oneDigital Access Unit (DAU) configured to communicate with at least one ofthe one or more DRUs. A first DRU of a first cell is operable tocommunicate using a first set of frequencies characterized by a firstfrequency band over a first geographic footprint and a plurality ofadditional DRUs of the first cell are operable to communicate using asecond set of frequencies characterized by a second frequency banddifferent from the first frequency band over a second geographicfootprint surrounding the first geographic footprint. A first DRU of asecond cell is operable to communicate using the first set offrequencies over a third geographical footprint and a plurality ofadditional DRUs of the second cell are operable to communication using athird set of frequencies characterized by a third frequency banddifferent from the first frequency band over a fourth geographic rangesurrounding the third geographic range.

The DRUs can comprise remote radio units. The method may also includecommunicating between a plurality of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS)coupled to the at least one DAU. One or more of the plurality of BTSscan be coupled to the DAU using a plurality of BTS sector RFconnections. The method may further include transporting signals betweenone or more DRUs and the at least one DAU.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method ofdistributing communications frequencies is provided. The method includesproviding a set of communications units in an array configuration andtransmitting and receiving, from a first communications unit of the setof communications units, a first set of frequencies characterized by afirst frequency band and a first geographic footprint and a second setof frequencies characterized by a second frequency band different fromthe first frequency band and a second geographic range surrounding thefirst geographic footprint. The method also includes transmitting, andreceiving, from a second communications unit of the set ofcommunications units, a third set of frequencies including one or morefrequencies in the first frequency band and a third geographicalfootprint and a fourth set of frequencies including one or morefrequencies in a third frequency band and a fourth geographicalfootprint surrounding the third geographical footprint.

In an embodiment, the set of communications units include a plurality ofremote units in communication with a host unit. The first geographicfootprint can be centered on the first communications unit. The secondgeographic footprint can be a peripheral footprint centered on the firstcommunications unit. The third geographical footprint can be centered onthe second communications unit. The fourth geographical footprint can bea peripheral footprint centered on the second communications unit. Thesecond geographical footprint can abut the fourth geographicalfootprint. The method can also include transmitting, and receiving, froma third communications unit of the set of communications units, a fifthset of frequencies including one or more frequencies in the firstfrequency band and a fifth geographical footprint and a sixth set offrequencies in a fourth frequency band and a sixth geographicalfootprint surrounding the fifth geographical footprint.

According to yet another embodiment, a communications system isprovided. The communications system includes a first communications unitoperable to transmit and receive communications using a first set offrequencies in a first frequency range and associated with a firstgeographical footprint and a second set of frequencies in a secondfrequency range and associated with a second geographical footprint anda second communications unit operable to transmit and receivecommunications using one or more of the first set of frequencies in aregion associated with a third geographical footprint and one or more ofthe second set of frequencies in a region associated with a fourthgeographical footprint.

The first communications unit can include a central DRU and a pluralityof peripheral DRUs disposed adjacent the central DRU. The system canalso include a DAU communicatively coupled to the central DRU and theplurality of peripheral DRUs. In an embodiment, the system includes aDAU communicatively coupled to the central DRU. Additionally, a secondDAU can be communicatively coupled to the plurality of peripheral DRUs.In an embodiment, the second geographical footprint at least partiallysurrounds the first geographical footprint. In another embodiment, thefourth geographical footprint at least partially surrounds the thirdgeographical footprint or the second geographical footprint at leastpartially overlaps the fourth geographical footprint.

According to a specific embodiment, a frequency sharing system for adistributed antenna system is provided. The frequency sharing systemincludes a first frequency band characterized by a first frequency rangeand associated with a first geographic area associated with a firstcommunications unit and a second frequency band characterized by asecond frequency range different from the first frequency range andassociated with a second geographic area at least partially surroundingthe first geographic area. The frequency sharing system also includes athird frequency band overlapping at least a portion of the secondfrequency band and associated with a third geographic area associatedwith a second communications unit and a fourth frequency bandoverlapping at least a portion of the first frequency band andassociated with a fourth geographic area at least partially surroundingthe third geographic area.

The first geographic area can be characterized by a first border and thesecond geographic area can be characterized by a second border, whereina predetermined distance separates the first border and the secondborder. The first frequency band and the second frequency band can becontiguous frequency bands. In an embodiment, the first frequency bandcomprises a first contiguous range of frequencies and the secondfrequency band comprises a second contiguous range of frequenciesadjacent the first frequency band.

According to another specific embodiment, a communications system isprovided and includes a first communications unit operable to transmitand receive communications using a first set of frequencies over a firstpredetermined area and a second communications unit operable to transmitand receive communications using a second set of frequencies over asecond predetermined area. The first communications unit is operable totransmit and receive communications using a third set of frequenciesover a third predetermined area and the second communications unit isoperable to transmit and receive communications using at least a portionof the third set of frequencies over a fourth predetermined area.

The first communications unit can include a plurality of DRUs, at leastone of the plurality of DRUs being coupled to a DAU. The thirdpredetermined area can be at least partially surrounded by the firstpredetermined area and the fourth predetermined area can be at leastpartially surrounded by the second predetermined area. In an embodiment,the first set of frequencies, the second set of frequencies, and thethird set of frequencies are distinct frequencies. The firstcommunications unit and the second communications unit can be disposedin an array configuration. The first predetermined area overlaps atleast a portion of the second predetermined area in some implementationsand the third predetermined area includes a location of the firstcommunications unit and the fourth predetermined area includes alocation of the second communications unit. The first communicationsunit can include a first plurality of digital remote units and thesecond communications unit comprises a second plurality of digitalremote units. The first set of frequencies can be associated with afirst number of the first plurality of digital remote units and thethird set of frequencies can be associated with another of the firstplurality of digital remote units. The second set of frequencies can beassociated with a first number of the second plurality of digital remoteunits and the third set of frequencies can be associated with another ofthe second plurality of digital remote units.

Numerous benefits are achieved by way of the present invention overconventional techniques. For instance, embodiments of the presentinvention control the amount of resources allocated to users located indifferent areas, thereby increasing the frequency efficiency and alsoimproving the data rate for cell edge users. These and other embodimentsof the invention along with many of its advantages and features aredescribed in more detail in conjunction with the text below and attachedfigures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate different frequency reuse techniques according toembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 1D illustrates, for the Hard Frequency Reuse case, thetransmit/receive power as a function of frequency according toembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 1E illustrates, for the Fractional Reuse case, the transmit/receivepower as a function of frequency according to embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 1F illustrates, for the Soft Frequency Reuse case, thetransmit/receive power as a function of frequency according toembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of a Distributed Antenna System (DAS)according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a plot illustrating ergodic capacity versus the normalizeddistance from the DRU0 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a plot illustrating ergodic capacity versus the normalizeddistance from the DRU0 according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a capacity metric for a multiuser case versus thenormalized distance from the DRU0 in eNB0 (central cell) area accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a plot illustrating analytical ergodic capacity for edge celland non-edge cell users versus α according to an embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 7 is a plot illustrating simulation capacity for edge cell andnon-edge cell users versus α according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is a simplified flowchart illustrating a method of implementingsoft frequency reuse according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 9 is a simplified flowchart illustrating a method of implementingfractional frequency reuse according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention provide a new cell architecturecombining two inter-cell interference mitigation techniques, DistributedAntenna System and Soft Frequency Reuse, to improve cell edge user'sthroughput when the system has full spectral efficiency.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) has been adoptedas the transmission scheme for the next generation wirelesscommunication systems. However, the downlink performance of cellularnetworks is known to be strongly limited by inter-cell interference inOFDMA based systems. In order to mitigate this interference, a number oftechniques have recently been proposed, e.g. the Soft Frequency Reuse(SFR) scheme and Distributed Antenna System (DAS). According toembodiments of the present invention, these two techniques are combinedin a unique cell architecture, which can be referred to as DAS-SFR. Inan implementation of this architecture, which is described herein, theantennas are distributed in a hexagonal cell such that the centralantenna is responsible for serving a special area using multiplefrequency bands (e.g., all of the frequency bands) while the remainingantennas utilize only a subset of the frequency bands based on afrequency reuse factor. The inventors have analytically quantified theperformance of the downlink multi-cell DAS-SFR in terms of theindividual user's throughput under three different resource allocationscenarios. The results show that DAS-SFR reduces inter-cell interferencein a multi-cell environment for users near the cell boundaries ascompared to a Hard Frequency Reuse (HFR) scheme with a frequency reusefactor of 1. The results also show that DAS-SFR significantly increasesthe system capacity as compared to the HFR scheme with a frequency reusefactor of 3.

In DAS-SFR, by controlling the amount of resources allocated to userslocated in different areas, embodiments of the present inventionincrease the frequency efficiency and also improve the data rate forcell edge users. If the throughput requirement for the interior users issmall, more resources can be assigned to the exterior users.

In the next generation wireless communication systems that use the 3GPPLTE (Long Term Evolution) standard, there is tremendous pressure tosupport a high data rate transmission. These systems are based onOrthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) to support thehigh data rate service and improve the Quality of Service (QoS), evenfor cell edge users as the main targets in the downlink.

The system bandwidth is divided into a number of sub-carriers in anOFDMA-based system such that each user utilizes a bandwidth smaller thanthe systems coherence bandwidth. Data from different users istransmitted in parallel on different sub-carriers. The orthogonalityamongst the sub-carriers mitigates inter-carrier interference (ICI)while the resulting large OFDM symbol time and the narrow sub-carrierbandwidth reduces the effect of inter-symbol interference (ISI). Userslocated at the cell edge largely suffer from co-channel interference(CCI) or inter-cell interference from base stations (BS) of neighboringcells. Mobile 3GPP LTE adopts a frequency reuse factor of one, in whicheach cell serves users using the entire system bandwidth.

In order to reduce interference in cellular systems, several techniqueshave been incorporated in these standards. Advanced receiver techniquessuch as Maximum Likelihood (ML) Multiuser Detection (MUD), the MMSEReceiver MUD and Other-cell interference cancellation are threepotential ways to reduce interference in cellular systems but theserequire a more complicated receiver. Advanced transmitter techniquessuch as Cooperative Encoding (CA), Closed-Loop MIMO Diversity Schemes(CLMD) and Beamforming are three other techniques to overcome theinterference problem in cellular systems but CA requires very accuratechannel state knowledge and real time inter-cell coordination, CLMD andBeamforming sacrifice spatial dimensions and require channel stateknowledge.

One possible strategy to alleviate interference, both in the uplink andthe downlink of cellular networks, is to reduce the overall transmitpower by using a distributed antenna systems (DAS), which also has theadditional advantage of improving capacity and coverage.

Other possible strategies include Frequency Reuse techniques, whicheffectively reduce inter-cell interference by geographically spacing thecompeting transmissions farther apart, which benefits users near thecell boundaries.

Distributed Antenna System (DAS) have been widely implemented instate-of-the art cellular communication systems to cover dead spots inwireless communications systems. As opposed to a conventional cellularsystem, where the antenna is centrally located, a DAS network consistsof antenna modules that are geographically distributed to reduce accessdistance. These distributed antennas are connected to an eNodeB (eNB)LTE system by dedicated wires, fiber optics, or via a radio frequencylink.

DAS has advantages including throughput improvement, coverageimprovement, increased cellphone battery life, and a reduction intransmitter power. Recent research has shown benefits of using DAS in acellular system for extending coverage, reducing call blocking rate andreducing inter-cell interference. An extension to a traditional DASsystem is a Virtual DAS, wherein each remote has the added flexibilityof independently transmitting preselected carriers.

Frequency reuse techniques are utilized herein to reduce inter-cellinterference in cellular systems. This benefits users near the celledges owing to simplicity and practicality. There are three majorfrequency reuse patterns illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1E for mitigatinginter-cell interference: Hard Frequency Reuse, Fractional FrequencyReuse and Soft Frequency Reuse.

Hard Frequency Reuse (HFR) splits the system bandwidth into a number ofdistinct sub-bands according to a chosen reuse factor and letsneighboring cells transmit on different sub-bands. This inter-cellinterference mitigation method is typically seen in GSM networks, whenit comes to distribution of frequencies among the cells. When applied toLTE, the Resource Blocks (a group of sub-carriers) are divided into 3, 4or 7 disjoint sets. These sets of Resource Blocks (RBs) are assigned tothe individual eNBs in such a way that neighboring cells don't use thesame set of frequencies, as illustrated in FIG. 1A. FIGS. 1D, 1E, and 1Fshow, for each case (Hard Frequency Reuse (FIG. 1A and FIG. 1D),Fractional Frequency Reuse (FIG. 1B and FIG. 1E), and Soft FrequencyReuse (FIG. 1C and FIG. 1F)), the transmit/receive power as a functionof frequency. This reduces the interference at the cell edge of any pairof cells significantly and can be considered the opposite extreme toFull Frequency Reuse in matters of frequency partitioning techniques.While user interference at the cell edge is maximally reduced, thespectrum efficiency drops by a factor equal to the reuse factor. Theinter-cell interference can be reduced with a frequency reuse factor ofmore than one, however, it may reduce the system capacity.

Fractional Frequency Reuse (FFR) is an inter-cell interferencemitigation technique in OFDMA based wireless networks. OFDMA providesthe ability for each eNB to selectively allocate frequency sub-bands,data rates and power to the users depending on their location in thecell, according to some predefined frequency reuse pattern which maylead to significant capacity gains for the overall network. FFR splitsthe given bandwidth into an inner and an outer region as illustrated inFIG. 1B. The spectrum allocated to the inner region is assigned to thenearby users (located close to the eNB in terms of path loss) applying afrequency reuse factor of one (i.e. the inner part is completely reusedby all eNBs). While the spectrum allocated to the outer region, forusers close to the cell edge (far users), is divided among the differenteNBs as in hard frequency reuse techniques. This scheme is particularlyuseful to mitigate the inter-cell interference in the uplink, wheresevere interference situations can occur when the user is located closeto a strong interferer from a neighbor cell.

Soft Frequency Reuse (SFR) is an inter-cell interference mitigationtechnique in OFDMA based wireless networks. SFR shares the overallbandwidth by all eNBs (i.e. a reuse factor of one is applied), but fortransmission on each group of RBs, the eNBs are restricted to a certainpower bound. FIG. 1C illustrates the power and frequency assignments inthe different cells of a system with SFR for a reuse factor of 3. It canbe noticed in the frequency spectrum of FIG. 1F associated with SoftFrequency Reuse (i.e., FIG. 1C), that there is a region of high-powertransmissions and some regions of low-power transmissions. Using asimilar strategy extending Fractional Frequency Reuse, resources in thehigh-power region are preferably assigned to User Equipment (UEs)located at the cell edge, while cell-center UEs are typically assignedresources in the low-power regions. SFR can utilize the entire frequencyspectrum that has been allocated, increasing the system data rate and/orcapacity.

Referring to FIGS. 1C-1F, frequencies in the grey frequency band (˜upper⅔ of the available frequencies) are transmitted/received by a DRU at afirst power level in Cell 1, providing coverage for the central portionof Cell 1. Frequencies in the horizontal stripes band aretransmitted/received by the DRU at a second power level higher than thefirst power level, providing coverage over both the central portion ofCell 1 as well as the peripheral portions of Cell 1 since the higherpower level results in a larger coverage area. In this example, eachcell utilizes a single DRU, although other embodiments can utilizemultiple DRUs per cell as described more fully herein. DRUs in the othercells also transmit/receive at both high power for a subset of thefrequencies and low power for remaining frequencies as shown in FIG. 1D,producing the coverage maps illustrated in FIG. 1C, with low powerfrequencies providing centralized coverage and higher power frequenciesproviding a large coverage area extending to the peripheral regions ofthe cells. Although all three cells are transmitting/receiving usingoverlapping (or the same) frequencies at low power, the correspondingpropagation distances for these frequencies are smaller, preventinggeographic overlap between the central grey regions.

In order to reduce interference in areas where cells are adjacent, thefrequencies associated with higher power are grouped into subbands, withlittle or no overlap between the subbands. Referring to FIG. 1F, in theSFR implementation, Cell 1 uses high power for the horizontal stripesband in approximately the first third of the frequency bandwidth, Cell 2uses high power for the dotted band in approximately the second third ofthe frequency bandwidth, and Cell 3 uses high power for the verticalstripes band in approximately the last third of the frequency bandwidth.Thus, at the intersections between cells, since different portions ofthe available frequency band are being utilized, interference isreduced. Thus, in some embodiments, different frequency bands areutilized in adjacent cells, which is illustrated by the high powerfrequency bands for SFR in FIG. 1F: the first frequency band in Cell 1,the second frequency band different from the first frequency band inCell 2, and the third frequency band different from the first frequencyband and the second frequency band in Cell 3. For an additional numberof cells, the subdivision of the available bandwidth can be increased asappropriate to the particular number of adjacent cells in theimplementation. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize manyvariations, modifications, and alternatives.

HFR, though simple in implementation, suffers from a reduced spectralefficiency. On the other hand, both SFR and FFR have increased (e.g.,full) spectral efficiency and are a strong mechanism for inter-cellinterference mitigation. A coordinated resource allocation system can beimpractical in realistic settings involving a large number of eNBs,random traffic and realistic path-loss models. However, an encouragingresult is that by using even limited (yet practical) levels ofcoordination, significant performance benefits can still be obtainedover a conventional cellular architecture. Most of the recentpublications have focused on investigating SINR advantages of DAS andanalyzing its performance. On the other hand, there are no studies thatcombine DAS with SFR in order to reduce inter-cell interference. Somepublications on DAS have focused on analyzing the uplink performancebecause of its analytical simplicity and there are few studies on thedownlink performance of DAS although the demand for high-speed data ratewill be dominant in the downlink path. There are also very fewpublications that consider the advantages of DAS in a multi-cellcontext. Recent research on FFR and SFR has focused on optimal systemdesign utilizing advanced techniques such as graph theory and convexoptimization to maximize network throughput. Additional works on FFR andSFR consider alternative schedulers and the authors determined thefrequency partitions in a two-stage heuristic approach.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a new architecture isprovided to suppress inter-cell interference. The architecture describedherein combines DAS and SFR for an OFDMA system (e.g., LTE). Embodimentsof the present invention provide benefits by using DAS-SFR in amulti-cell environment. The downlink advantages of DAS-SFR are describedin terms of achievable ergodic capacity for three different frequencyresource allocation scenarios. The results shows that a DAS-SFRarchitecture effectively addresses inter-cell interference in amulti-cell environment, especially at the cell boundaries when comparedto a HFR cellular architecture and achieves a non-trivial capacityincrease over a HFR cellular architecture with a frequency reuse factorof 3. Other reuse factors are included within the scope of the presentinvention, for example, up to or more than 7 as suitable for the DASarchitecture illustrated in FIG. 2.

As described herein, an analytical framework has been developed toevaluate the ergodic capacity in a DAS-SFR architecture. This is animportant metric to consider, especially for users at the cell-edgesince modern cellular networks are increasingly required to provideusers with high data-rate and a guaranteed quality-of-service,regardless of their geographic location, instead of simply a minimumuser throughput which may be acceptable for applications like voicetraffic. We present a strategy for optimally allocating frequency RBs toedge users for a DAS-SFR architecture, based on a chosen performancethreshold T_(p), which can be related to network traffic load. Finallywe prepare a simulation scenario to compare the analytical results withthe simulation results.

Referring to the spectral plots illustrated in FIG. 1D, in the HFRsystem, the horizontal stripes, shaded, and vertical stripes frequencybands occupy different frequency ranges and, in combination, fill theentire spectrum. In HFR (FIG. 1A), cell 1 uses the lower frequencies(horizontal stripes), cell 2 uses the middle frequencies (shaded), andcell 3 uses the higher frequencies (vertical stripes).

Referring to FIG. 2, the DAS includes a central cell referenced as eNB0,which includes DRU0 through DRU6 that are communicating through one basestation at eNB0 through a DAU. DRU0 can be considered to be Cell 1 inFIGS. 1A-1C, DRU1 can be considered to be Cell 2 in FIGS. 1A-1C, andDRU2 can be considered to be Cell 3 in FIGS. 1A-1C. In otherembodiments, eNB0 is considered to be Cell 1 in FIGS. 1A-1C and eBN1,including a different set of DRUs, DRU0 through DRU6, can be consideredto be Cell 2 in FIGS. 1A-1C, etc. In FIG. 1A, Cell 1 (e.g., DRU0 ofeNB0) utilizes the horizontal stripes frequency band and the other cellsuse different frequency bands as illustrated. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 2, seven different frequency bands could be utilizedfor high power transmission by the seven DRUs connected to each basestation. For cells geographically separated from Cell 1, for example,cells in eNB7 could reuse the same frequencies (horizontal stripes) usedin Cell 1 (e.g., eNB0).

Referring once again to FIG. 1B, a set of frequencies operating atreduced power compared to the frequencies discussed in relation to HFRand represented by the grey frequency bands in the FFR and SFR portionof FIGS. 1E and 1F, respectively, are reused in each of the cells (i.e.,Cell 1, Cell 2, and Cell 3). Because this frequency band does notgeographically overlap with adjacent cells (i.e., it is used at thecentral portion of the cell as a result of the lower power), overlapbetween adjacent cells is prevented and this frequency band can bereused in adjacent cells.

For fractional frequencies, because there is a spatial separationbetween the grey areas in the spectra in Cell 1 and Cell 2 and Cell 3,as long as the spatial separation is significant enough, there will notbe significant interference between the cells although the centralportions of the cells are transmitting on the same (e.g., exact same)frequencies. By keeping a separation and allocating the horizontalstripes frequency band in Cell 1 to specific frequencies, the shadedfrequency band in Cell 2 to other specific frequencies, the verticalstripes frequency band in Cell 3 to still other specific frequencies,and the like for additional cells, embodiments of the present inventionmake efficient use of the given spectrum. Comparing the FractionalFrequency Reuse spectrum to the Hard Frequency Reuse spectrum, it isevident that FFR uses more of the available spectrum, which enablessupport for more users, operation at a higher data rate, combinationsthereof, or the like. In the illustrated example, the fraction of thespectrum used in each cell has increased from about a third of thespectrum (HFR) to about half of the spectrum (FFR). Otherimplementations can utilized different fractions of the spectrum and thepresent invention is not limited to the particular example illustratedin FIG. 1B and FIG. 1E.

In one embodiment, to implement the fractional frequency reuse techniqueillustrated in FIG. 1B using the architecture illustrated in FIG. 2,DRUs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of eNB0 would transmit and receive data usingfrequencies in the horizontal stripe frequency band and DRU0 of eNB0would transmit and receive data using the grey frequencies. In anembodiment, the size of the area covered by DRU0 can be increased byincreasing the transmit power associated with the central DRU (i.e.,DRU0). In another embodiment, each DRU in eNB0 transmits and receivesdata at a first power level using frequencies in the grey frequencybands and at a second, higher power level, using frequencies in thehorizontal stripe/shaded/vertical stripe/etc. frequency bands. In thisembodiment, three of the seven DRUs illustrated in an eNB areillustrated by Cells 1-3.

Referring to FIG. 1C, an architecture implementing Soft Frequency Reuseis illustrated and the matching spectrum in FIG. 1F illustrates the fulluse the spectrum by each of the adjacent cells. In an embodiment inwhich multiple DRUs are utilized per cell, the horizontal stripegeographical area in Cell 1 is associated with the outer DRUs in thecommunications unit illustrated as eNB0 in FIG. 2 (i.e., DRUs 1-6) andthe grey geographical area in Cell 1 is associated with the central DRUin the communications unit illustrated as eNB0 in FIG. 2 (i.e., DRU0).As discussed above, the size of the grey circle can beincreased/decreased by increasing/decreasing the power of utilized inconjunction with DRU0. As shown in the SFR spectrum for Cell 1, data istransmitted and received over the entire allocated spectrum, includingportions of the spectrum that were unused for Cell 1 in the HFR example.The increase in spectrum provides increased data rate, increasedcapacity, combinations thereof, or the like. In other embodiments, asingle DRU in Cell 1 broadcasts at low power over the grey band and at ahigher power over the horizontal stripe spectrum. Other cellsdemonstrate similar behavior. One of ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize many variations, modifications, and alternatives.

Comparing FFR (FIG. 1B) and SFR (FIG. 1C), the frequency bandwidthavailable for the peripheral DRUs or for the higher power broadcast froma DRU in the cell (i.e., horizontal stripe, dotted, or vertical stripespectra) is increased for SFR in comparison to FFR. Additionally, thefrequency bandwidth available for the central DRU or for the lower powerbroadcast from the DRU in the cell (i.e., grey spectra) is alsoincreased for SFR in comparison to FFR.

In an embodiment, fractional frequency reuse is implemented in a DASsystem with a plurality of adjacent cells, each of the cells including aplurality of remote units. A first cell utilizes a first frequencybandwidth at a central portion of the cell (i.e., a central geographicalarea associated with a central DRU) and a second frequency bandwidth atperipheral portions of the cell (i.e., a peripheral geographical areaassociated with peripheral DRUs). A second cell utilizes a thirdfrequency bandwidth at a central portion of the cell (i.e., a centralgeographical area associated with a central DRU) and the secondfrequency bandwidth at peripheral portions of the cell (i.e., aperipheral geographical area associated with peripheral DRUs).

In another embodiment, soft frequency reuse is implemented in a DASsystem with a plurality of adjacent cells. A first cell utilizes a firstfrequency band at peripheral portions of the cell (i.e., a peripheralgeographical area associated with peripheral DRUs) and a secondfrequency band (e.g., the remaining bandwidth) at a central portion ofthe cell (i.e., a central geographical area associated with a centralDRU). A second cell utilizes a third frequency band at peripheralportions of the cell (i.e., a peripheral geographical area associatedwith peripheral DRUs) and a fourth frequency band, which may includemultiple sub-bands (e.g., the remaining bandwidth) at a central portionof the cell (i.e., a central geographical area associated with a centralDRU). The third frequency band may include frequencies in the secondfrequency band and the multiple sub-bands of the fourth frequency bandmay include frequencies in the first frequency band as illustrated inFIG. 1C.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, operators utilizedifferent spectrums and, in the examples illustrated in FIGS. 1D-1F,they are contiguous. However, it should be noted that althoughcontiguous spectra are illustrated in FIGS. 1D-1F, this is not requiredby embodiments of the present invention and non-contiguous spectrums maybe utilized in other embodiments. One of ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize many variations, modifications, and alternatives.

Although the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1D-1F utilize threefrequencies, embodiments of the present invention are not limited tothis particular number and additional frequencies and frequency bandscan be utilized, for example, additional frequency bands used inconjunction with additional cells. In a particular embodiment, sevenfrequency bands, twelve frequency bands, or the like can be utilized.One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations,modifications, and alternatives.

System Architecture (DAS-SFR)

The general architecture of a Virtualized DAS in a multi-cellenvironment is shown in FIG. 2, where 7 Digital Remote Units (DRUs) areconnected to an eNB via an optical fiber and a Digital Access Unit(DAU). The DAUs are interconnected and connected to multiple sectors.This capability enables the virtualization of the eNB resources at theindependent DRUs. The eNBs are linked to a public switched telephonenetwork or a mobile switching center. DRUs are sectorized such that eachDRU allocated to a given eNB sector is simulcast. For the simulcastingoperation, the access network between each eNB and its DRUs should havea multi-drop bus topology. The DAUs assign the RBs of the varioussectors to the independent DRUs. In contrast, the same area (7 DRUs) iscovered by only a high-power eNB in traditional cellular system. Theproposed architecture divides the entire spectral bandwidth F into 3parts (F₁, F₂, F₃). The idea is that the eNB assigns the full-reusedfrequency (all 3 parts) to the central DRU and the other 6 edge DRUswork on just 1 part based on a reuse factor of Δ in such a way thatneighbor cell edge DRUs don't use the same frequency part.

The total transmit power of the n-th DRU of i-th cell in f-th frequencypart is denoted P_(n) ^((i,f)), where the central DRU of each cell isindex by n=0. Throughout this application, we assume that P_(n)^((i,f))=P.

We also consider the 2-tier cellular structure, where two continuoustiers of eighteen cells surround a given cell. Although this assumptionof only 2-tiers of interfering cells is optimistic, a pessimisticassumption that all the DRUs and the eNB are transmitting full power allthe time easily compensates.

Resource Allocation Scenarios:

In cellular DAS-SFR with multi users, there are several possibleresource allocation scenarios using multiple DRUs. Much of the researchon SFR system design has focused on how to determine the size of thefrequency partition, for example, in a typical LTE system with abandwidth of 5 MHz, 25 RBs may be available to serve users per eachfrequency part (F_(i), i=1, 2, 3).

For a typical central cell, let's assume the center DRU is assigned thefull-reused frequency and the other six edge DRUs are assigned to F₁.Now, we consider three resource allocation scenarios:

-   -   Scenario 1: All F₁, F₂, F₃ RBs are assigned to all users in the        cell. Note that in this scenario, the very low SINR exterior        users are inefficiently using the F₂ and F₃ RBs.    -   Scenario 2: F₁ RBs are assigned to all users but F₂ and F₃ RBs        are solely assigned to interior users. Note that in this        scenario, the available RBs are fully assigned to the interior        users, which leads to a big gap between the numbers of allocated        RBs to the interior users as compared to the exterior users.    -   Scenario 3: F₁ RBs are solely assigned to the exterior users,        whereas the F₂ and F₃ RBs are assigned to the interior users. In        this scenario, all RBs are more fairly assigned between all        users, as compared to the previously mentioned scenario.        Moreover, in this scenario the RBs are allocated to the users        following a SINR-based approach, in which the edge users using        the F₁ RBs, and the interior users using the F₂ and F₃ RBs have        a high SINR.

We primarily assume a single user scenario, and further extend it to auniformly distributed multiuser LTE system. In a multiuser scenario weinvestigate both the analytical and simulation results in order toverify the system's capacity improvement.

Channel Model and Received Signal

The downlink path of a DAS can be considered as an equivalent MIMOsystem with additive interference and noise. The received signal vectorof the user in the 0^(th) cell at frequency f can be expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{y^{({0,f})} = {{signal} + {interference} + {noise}}} \\{= {{H^{({0,f})}x^{({0,f})}} + {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{18}{H^{({i,f})}x^{({i,f})}}} + n}}\end{matrix} & (1)\end{matrix}$

where H^((i,f))εC^(1×7), i=0, 1, . . . , 18, denotes the channel matrixbetween the DRUs in the i-th cell and the user in the central (0^(th))cell, x^((i,f))=[x₀ ^((i,f)),x₁ ^((i,f)), . . . , x₆^((i,f))]^(T)εC^(7×1), i−0, 1, . . . , 18 is the transmitted signalvector of the DRUs in the i-th cell, n^((f))εC^(1×1) denotes the whitenoise vector with distribution CN (0,σ_(n) _((f)) ²I₁).

The distributed antenna power constraint is considered, we have

E[|(x _(n) ^((i,f))|² ]≦P _(n) ^((i,f)) , n=0,1, . . . ,6, i=0,1, . . .,18,  (2)

where in DAS-SFR,

-   x_(n) ^((i,F) ¹ ⁾=0,P_(n) ^((i,F) ¹ ⁾=0 when (n=1, 2, . . . , 6 and    i=1, 2, . . . , 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17),-   x_(n) ^((i,F) ² ⁾=0,P_(n) ^((i,F) ² ⁾=0 when (n=1, 2, . . . , 6 and    i=0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18),-   x_(n) ^((i,F) ³ ⁾=0,P_(n) ^((i,F) ³ ⁾=0 when (n=1, 2, . . . , 6 and    i=0, 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18),    in DAS-HFR3 (frequency reuse factor 3),-   x_(n) ^((i,F) ¹ ⁾=0,P_(n) ^((i,F) ¹ ⁾=0 when (n=1, 2, . . . , 6 and    i=1, 2, . . . , 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17),-   x_(n) ^((i,F) ² ⁾=0,P_(n) ^((i,F) ² ⁾=0 when (n=1, 2, . . . , 6 and    i=0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18),-   x_(n) ^((i,F) ³ ⁾=0,P_(n) ^((i,F) ³ ⁾=0 when (n=1, 2, . . . , 6 and    i=0, 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18),    in DAS-HFR1 (frequency reuse factor 1),-   x_(n) ^((i,f))≠0,P_(n) ^((i,f))≠0 when (n=0, 1, . . . , 6 and i=0,    1, . . . , 18, f=F₁, F₂, F₃),    in Conventional Cellular-HFR3 (frequency reuse factor 3),-   x_(n) ^((i,F) ¹ ⁾=0,P_(n) ^((i,F) ¹ ⁾=0 when (n=0, 1, . . . , 6 and    i=1, 2, . . . , 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17) or (n=1, 2, . . . , 6 and i=0,    8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18),-   x_(n) ^((i,F) ² ⁾=0,P_(n) ^((i,F) ² ⁾=0 when (n=0, 1, . . . , 6 and    i=0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18) or (n=1, 2, . . . ,    6 and i=1, 3, 5, 9, 13, 17),-   x_(n) ^((i,F) ³ ⁾=0,P_(n) ^((i,F) ³ ⁾=0 when (n=0, 1, . . . , 6 and    i=0, 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18) or (n=1, 2, . . . ,    6 and i=2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 15),    and in Conventional cellular-HFR1 (frequency reuse factor 1),-   x_(n) ^((i,f))=0,P_(n) ^((i,f))=0 when (n=1, . . . , 6 and i=0, 1, .    . . , 18 and f=F₁, F₂, F₃),    where P_(n) ^((i,f)) denotes the power constraint of the n-th DRU in    the i-th cell.

The composite fading channel matrix H^((i,f)), i=0, 1, . . . , 18,encompasses not only small-scale fading but also large-scale fading,which is modeled as

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{H^{({i,f})} = {H_{w}^{({i,f})}L^{({i,f})}}} \\{= {{\left\lbrack {h_{0}^{({i,f})},h_{1}^{({i,f})},\ldots \mspace{14mu},h_{6}^{({i,f})}} \right\rbrack \cdot {diag}}\left\{ {l_{0}^{({i,f})},l_{1}^{({i,f})},\ldots \mspace{14mu},l_{6}^{({i,f})}} \right\}}}\end{matrix} & (3)\end{matrix}$

where H_(w) ^((i,f)) and L^((i,f)) reflect the small-scale channelfading and the large-scale channel fading between the DRUs in the i-thcell and the user in the 0^(th) cell, respectively. {h_(j) ^((i,f))|j=0,1, . . . , 6; i=0, 1, . . . , 18; f=F₁, F₂, F₃} are independent andidentically distribute (i.i.d) circularly symmetric complex Gaussianvariables with zero mean and unit variance, and {l_(j) ^((i,f))|j=0, 1,. . . , 6; i=0, 1, . . . , 18; f=F₁, F₂, F₃} can be modeled as

l _(n) ^((i,f))=√{square root over ([D _(n) ^((i))]^(−γ)χ_(n)^((i,f)))}{square root over ([D _(n) ^((i))]^(−γ)χ_(n) ^((i,f)))},n=0,1, . . . ,6, i=0,1, . . . ,18  (4)

where D_(n) ^((i)) and χ_(n) ^((i,f)) are independent random variablesrepresenting the distance and the shadowing between the user in the0^(th) cell and the nth DRU in the i-th cell, respectively, γ denotesthe path loss exponent. {χ_(j) ^((i,f))|j=0, 1, . . . , 6; i=0, 1, . . ., 18; f=F₁, F₂, F₃} are i.i.d random variables with probability densityfunction (PDF)

$\begin{matrix}{{{f_{\chi}(\chi)} = {\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}{\lambda\sigma}_{\chi}\chi}{\exp \left( {- \frac{\left( {\ln \; \chi} \right)^{2}}{2\lambda^{2}\sigma_{\chi}^{2}}} \right)}}},{\chi > 0},} & (5)\end{matrix}$

where σ_(x) is the shadowing standard deviation and

$\lambda = {\frac{\ln \; 10}{10}.}$

Since the number of interfering source is sufficiently large andinterfering source are independent with each other, the interferenceplus noise is assumed to be a complex Gaussian random vector as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{N^{(f)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{18}{H^{({i,f})}x^{{({i,f})} + n^{(f)}}}}} & (6)\end{matrix}$

The variance of N is derived by Central Limit Theorem as

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{{Var}\left( N^{(f)} \right)} = {\left\lbrack {{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{18}{\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{6}{\left\lbrack l_{n}^{({i,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{n}^{({i,f})}}}} + \sigma_{n^{(f)}}^{2}} \right\rbrack I_{1}}} \\{= {\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}I_{1}}}\end{matrix} & (7)\end{matrix}$

Therefore, the received signal at the mobile station at a given symbolduration is given by

y ⁽⁰⁾ =H _(w) ^((0,f)) L ^((0,f)) x ^((0,f)) +N ^((f))  (8)

Achievable capacity of distributed antenna network

If we assume the channel state information is known only at the receiver(CSIR) and the channel is ergodic, the ergodic Shannon capacity at agiven location of the target mobile station can be calculated by

$\begin{matrix}{C^{(f)} = {E_{H_{w}^{({0,f})}}\left\lbrack {\log_{2}{\det \left( {I_{1} + {\frac{1}{\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}}\left( {H_{w}^{({0,f})}L^{({0,f})}} \right){P^{({0,f})}\left( {H_{w}^{({0,f})}L^{({0,f})}} \right)}^{H}}} \right)}} \right\rbrack}} & (9)\end{matrix}$

where P^((0,f)) is the covariance matrix of the transmitted vector x andgiven by diag {P₀ ^((0,f)), P₁ ^((0,f)), . . . , P₆ ^((0,f))}. Ifergodicity of the channel is assumed, the ergodic capacity can beobtained as

$\begin{matrix}{\begin{matrix}{C^{(f)} = {E_{H_{w}^{({0,f})}}\left\lbrack {\log_{2}\left( {I_{1} + {\frac{1}{\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}}{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{6}{{{h_{i}^{({0,f})}}^{2}\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack}^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}}}}} \right)} \right\rbrack}} \\{= {\int_{\gamma_{f} = 0}^{\infty}{{\log_{2}\left( {1 + \gamma_{f}} \right)}{f_{\gamma_{f}}\ \left( \gamma_{f} \right)}{\gamma_{f}}}}}\end{matrix}{where}{\gamma_{f} = {\frac{1}{\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}}{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{6}{{{h_{i}^{({0,f})}}^{2}\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack}^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}}}}}} & (10)\end{matrix}$

is a weighted chi-squared distributed random variable with p.d.f givenby

$\begin{matrix}{{{{f_{\gamma_{f}}\left( \gamma_{f} \right)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{6}{\frac{\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}\pi_{i}}{\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}}{\exp \left( {- \frac{\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}\gamma_{f}}{\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}}} \right)}}}},{where}}{\pi_{i} = {\prod\limits_{{k = 0},{k \neq i}}^{6}\; {\frac{\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}}{{\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}} - {\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{k}^{({0,f})}}}.}}}} & (11)\end{matrix}$

Then the ergodic capacity for MISO vector channel can be obtained in asimple form by

$\begin{matrix}{{C^{(f)} = {{- \frac{1}{\ln \; 2}}{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{6}{\pi_{i}{\exp \left( {- \frac{\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}}{\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}}} \right)}{{Ei}\left( {- \frac{\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}}{\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}}} \right)}}}}},{f = F_{1}},F_{2},F_{3}} & (12)\end{matrix}$

where Ei(t) is the exponential integral function

(Ei(t) = −∫_(−x)^(∞)^(−t)/t t)

and can be easily calculated with popular numerical tools such as MATLABand MAPLE.

Since the derivation for this MISO vector channel is a generalization ofa SISO channel, the ergodic capacity for SISO channel is given,respectively, by

$\begin{matrix}{{C^{(f)} = {{- \frac{1}{\ln \; 2}}{\exp \left( {- \frac{\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}}{\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}}} \right)}{{Ei}\left( {- \frac{\left\lbrack \sigma^{(f)} \right\rbrack^{2}}{\left\lbrack l_{i}^{({0,f})} \right\rbrack^{2}P_{i}^{({0,f})}}} \right)}}},{f = F_{1}},F_{2},F_{3}} & (13)\end{matrix}$

Thus, the total ergodic capacity of the system can be obtained by addingthe capacity of the individual carriers,

C _(total) =C ^((F) ¹ ⁾ +C ^((F) ² ⁾ +C ^((F) ³ ⁾  (14)

Analytical and Simulation Results

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 represents the ergodic capacity of cellular DAS fordifferent frequency reuse techniques versus the normalized distance fromthe eNB0 DRU0 in the direction of the worst case position X when thepath loss exponent is 3.76. Each scenario is plotted for the individualcapacities C^((F) ¹ ⁾, C^((F) ² ⁾, C^((F) ³ ⁾, and also for the totalcapacity C_(total).

The transmit power of each distributed antenna module is P whereas thetransmit power of eNB in the conventional cellular system is 7P. Thesefigures show an interesting non-monotonic relationship between capacityand the normalized distance from the base station. This is because thesignal from a distributed antenna module becomes dominant around 0.6R.

FIG. 3 compares the capacity performance of the two frequency reusetechniques, SFR and HFR3, for a particular central cell. Note that inthe SFR technique, all 3 frequency bands are assigned, whereas, in theHFR3 method, only the F₁ band is used. The results show that the SFRmethod achieves the highest throughput, owing to use of more frequencybandwidth. More specifically, the total capacity achieved using the SFRmethod is the highest inside the normalized distance 0.5.

A non-significant throughput reduction in the SFR technique is observedhappening beyond a normalized distance 0.5, due to the interferenceintroduced from the neighboring central DRU cells. Note that there is nointerference introduced from the DRU neighboring cells when the HFR3method is applied. It is worth mentioning that the achieved throughputof the DAS-HFR3 is slightly lower than that of a conventional cellular(Con-HFR3) system near the eNB0 DRU0, due to the reduced transmit power.

FIG. 4 compares the capacity performance of the two frequency reusetechniques, SFR and HFR1, for a particular central cell. Note that inboth SFR and HFR1 techniques, all 3 frequency bands are assigned. Theachieved throughputs of the DAS-HFR1 and DAS-SFR are slightly lower thanthat of a conventional cellular (Con-HFR1) system near the eNB0 (DRU0),due to the reduced transmit power.

FIG. 4 illustrates that the HFR1 technique outperforms the SFR techniquein terms of the achieved throughput inside the (0, 0.5R) region,nevertheless, the SFR technique significantly improves the systemperformance by making up for the dead spots happening at the cell edges.Note that there is a significant amount of interference happening in the(0.8R,R) region, creating dead-spots in the HFR1 technique.

Note that 80% of the users are located inside the (0.5R,R) region,assuming a uniform distribution, while the other 20% are farther fromthe interfering cells. Therefore, it is more important to improve thesystem capacity inside the (0.5R,R) region.

In multiuser systems, where all users are uniformly distributed in thecell, we need to consider different resource allocation scenarios whichwere defined above. Assuming that each cell has radius R, we defineparameter α (0<α<1) such that the interior area is located in the (0,αR) region and the exterior area is located in the (αR,R) region.

In LTE systems, eNB distinguishes between the interior and exteriorusers based on their corresponding uplink power received at the centralDRU. To implement this technique, we propose a threshold T_(p) as aparameter in eNB such that users with uplink power higher than T_(p) areassigned as interior users, and vice versa.

Note that

N _(interior)=α² N _(users),

N _(exterior)=(1−α²)N _(users)  (15)

where N_(interior) represents the number of interior users, N_(exterior)represents the number of exterior users, and N_(users) represents thetotal number of users. We will consider the 3 different resourceallocation scenarios mentioned above, where the number of RBs per usersassigned in the different regions (interior or exterior) for differentScenarios can be expressed as in TABLE 1, where N_(RB) _((F) _(i)), i=1,2, 3 represents the number of RBs for given frequency part F_(i) andN_(RB) _((F) _(i)) ^(tech) represent the number of RBs for given F_(i)for the different techniques.

Note that in all 3 scenarios we have applied the Round Robin schedulingtechnique.

If we consider the number of RBs which are assigned to the differentregional users under the different scenarios, the capacity metric of thetotal system can be obtained by,

$\begin{matrix}{\mspace{79mu} {{C_{metric}^{{total},{tech}} = {C_{metric}^{({{tech},F_{1}})} + C_{metric}^{({{tech},F_{2}})} + C_{metric}^{({{tech},F_{3}})}}}\mspace{20mu} {where}\mspace{20mu} {{C_{metric}^{({{tech},F_{i}})} = {N_{{RB}^{(F_{i}\;)}}^{tech} \cdot C^{(F_{i})}}},\mspace{20mu} {i = 1},2,3,{{tech} \in {\begin{Bmatrix}{{{DAS} - {SFR} - {{SC}\; 1}},{{DAS} - {SFR} - {{SC}\; 2}},{{DAS} - {SFR} - {{SC}\; 3}},} \\{{{DAS} - {{HFR}\; 3}},{{Con} - {{HFR}\; 3}},{{DAS} - {{HFR}\; 1}},{{Con} - {{HFR}\; 1}}}\end{Bmatrix}.}}}}} & (16)\end{matrix}$

In FIG. 5, the capacity metric is provided considering a uniformdistribution of users and a Round Robin Scheduler. In this example,which illustrates the capacity metric for a multiuser case versus thenormalized distance from the DRU0 in eNB0 (central cell) area, we assumeα is 0.5. The achieved capacity of the DAS-SFR architecture withScenario2 and Scenario3 is higher than that of DAS-SFR system withScenario1, especially near the central DRU. This is due to the fact thatthe F₂ and F₃ RBs are not assigned to the exterior users which have verylow SINR and all F₂ and F₃ RBs assigned to interior users.

Comparing Scenario2 with Scenario3, we observe that the achievablecapacity for interior users in DAS-SFR architecture with Scenario2 isslightly higher than that of scenario3 due to the full frequency reusefor the interior users in Scenario2. However, in Scenario3, only the F₂and F₃ frequency bands are used by the interior users. Conversely, theachieved capacity for exterior users in a DAS-SFR architecture withScenario3 is slightly higher than that of Scenario 2, due to the factthat all F₁ RBs are used by the exterior users, whereas in Scenario2 theF₁ RBs are partially used by the exterior users.

Note that FIG. 5 illustrates that the DAS-HFR1 technique outperformsother techniques in terms of the achieved throughput by majority of theinterior users; nevertheless, SFR technique significantly improves thesystem performance by making up for the dead spots which appear at thecell edges. Note that there is a significant amount of interferencehappening in the (0.8R, R) region, causing the dead spots in DAS-HFR1technique.

In the established system environment, we evaluate the total systemcapacity for several cases for non-edge users (inside (0, 0.8R) region)and edge users (inside (0.8R, R)). We assume α sweeps from 0.2 to 0.8.Remember that a manages the portion of resources allocated in Scenario2and Scenario3.

FIG. 6 illustrates the analytical results for the non-edge users andedge users, where a varies between 0.2 and 0.8, that is, the analyticalergodic capacity for edge cell and non-edge cell users versus theparameter α.

Note that as α changes, the number of RBs assigned to the users inScenario2 and Scenario3 changes accordingly. However, in othertechniques, with changing α, number of assigned RBs to the users remainsunaltered. As α increases, the edge user's throughput increases inScenario3, due to the fact that more RBs are assigned to those users.Specifically, as α increases, less users need to use F₁ RBs inScenario3. However, in other techniques, edge users experience aconstant throughput, due to the fact that the number of RBs allocated tothe edge users remains constant as α changes. Specifically, regardlessof the changes in α, all F₁ RBs are assigned to all users.

As α increases, non-edge users' throughput decreases, due to the factthat the total constant number of F₂ and F₃ RBs should be assigned tomore number of users accordingly. Note that the rate of decrease in userthroughput for non-edge users for Scenario3 is more than that ofScenario2, as α increases. The reason behind this is that the rate ofdecrease in number of RBs assigned to the non-edge users in Scenario3 ismore than that of Scenario2. Specifically, as was previously mentioned,since no F₁ RBs are assigned to the non-edge users in Scenario3,non-edge users' throughput in Scenario3 is less than that of Scenario2.

The capacity of the above mentioned architectures is investigatedthrough the system level simulation. We consider the two-ring hexagonalcellular system with nineteen eNBs, such that each cell has 7 DRUs, asin FIG. 2, where the eNBs distance is 500 meters. The 10 UEs are locatedin each DRU area, following a uniform distribution. An eNB allocates theavailable RBs to UEs by estimating the signaling and uplink power ofUEs. We use the simulation parameters listed in TABLE 2.

At a TTI of simulation, the eNB in a cell gathers the CQI information ofUEs and allocates the RBs to each UE using the Round Robin schedulingtechnique. The throughput of a UE is obtained based on the SINR of theUE in the assigned RB. In system level simulation, SINR is determined bythe path loss and lognormal fading measured in RB. The throughput of aUE_(m) is estimated using the Shannon capacity as follows

C _(m) ^((f)) =W _(RB) _((f)) log(1+SINR_(m) ^((f))), f=F ₁ ,F ₂ ,F₃  (16)

where, W_(RB) _((f)) is the bandwidth of RBs assigned to a UE andSINR_(m) ^((f)) is the SINR of a UE_(m). The cell capacity in eachregion is total throughput of UEs in the corresponding region and isexpressed as follows

$\begin{matrix}{C_{total} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{3}{\sum\limits_{m = 1}^{M}C_{m}^{(F_{i})}}}} & (17)\end{matrix}$

where M is the number of UEs in a group.

FIG. 7 illustrates the simulation results for the non-edge users andedge users (i.e., the simulated capacity for edge cell and non-edge cellusers versus the parameter α, where α varies between 0.2 and 0.8. Theresults obtained through simulation corroborate the results provided byanalytical methods.

The overall capacity increases by using the SFR technique, since thespectral efficiency in the interior region is higher than that in theexterior region when compared to HFR3 technique. The cell edge user'sthroughput increases by using the SFR technique, since the interferencesignal from neighbor cells is lower than that when we use HFR1technique. In an embodiment using Scenario3 as a resource allocationstrategy, the exterior user's throughput is increased.

FIG. 8 is a simplified flowchart illustrating a method of implementingsoft frequency reuse according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The method 800 includes transmitting and receiving data in afirst geographical area and a first frequency band (810). The methodalso includes transmitting and receiving data in a second geographicalarea and a second frequency band (812). In an embodiment, the firstgeographical area is a central area of a cell including multiple DRUsand the second geographical area is a peripheral area of the cell. Inanother embodiment, the second geographical area includes and extends toan area larger than the first geographical area (e.g., an areasurrounding the first geographical area). The method further includestransmitting and receiving data in a third geographical area and atleast a portion of the first frequency band (814). At least a portion ofthe frequency band used for the third geographical area is thus reusedin relation to the first geographical area. The method also includestransmitting and receiving data in a fourth geographical area and athird frequency band (816). In an embodiment, the third geographicalarea is a central area of a cell including multiple DRUs and the fourthgeographical area is a peripheral area of the cell. In anotherembodiment, the fourth geographical area includes and surrounds thethird geographical area. The third frequency band may overlap with partof the first frequency band. Accordingly, multiple cells reuse theportions of the first frequency band, which may include multiplesub-bands that are contiguous or separated in frequency domain, inmultiple adjacent cells.

It should be appreciated that the specific steps illustrated in FIG. 8provide a particular method of implementing soft frequency reuseaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Other sequences ofsteps may also be performed according to alternative embodiments. Forexample, alternative embodiments of the present invention may performthe steps outlined above in a different order. Moreover, the individualsteps illustrated in FIG. 8 may include multiple sub-steps that may beperformed in various sequences as appropriate to the individual step.Furthermore, additional steps may be added or removed depending on theparticular applications. One of ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize many variations, modifications, and alternatives.

FIG. 9 is a simplified flowchart illustrating a method of implementingfractional frequency reuse according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The method 900 includes transmitting and receiving data in afirst geographical area and a first frequency band (910) andtransmitting and receiving data in a second geographical area and asecond frequency band (912). In an embodiment, the second geographicalarea surrounds the first geographical area. As an example, the firstgeographical area can be a central portion of a cell that is covered bya central DRU and the second geographical area can be a peripheralportion of the cell that is covered by a plurality of peripheral DRUs.

The method further includes transmitting and receiving data in a thirdgeographical area and the first frequency band (914) and transmittingand receiving data in a fourth geographical area and a third frequencyband (916). In an embodiment, the third geographical area surrounds thefourth geographical area. As an example, the third geographical area canbe a central portion of another cell that is covered by a central DRUand the fourth geographical area can be a peripheral portion of theanother cell that is covered by a plurality of peripheral DRUs. Thus,the frequency band used at the central portion of the first cell isreused at the central portion of the second cell. In embodiments, thefrequency bands are not limited to contiguous blocks of frequencies, butcan include sub-bands each including one or more frequency. The thirdfrequency band can be different from the second frequency band,providing differing frequencies for the differing cells at adjacentgeographical areas.

It should be appreciated that the specific steps illustrated in FIG. 9provide a particular method of implementing fractional frequency reuseaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Other sequences ofsteps may also be performed according to alternative embodiments. Forexample, alternative embodiments of the present invention may performthe steps outlined above in a different order. Moreover, the individualsteps illustrated in FIG. 9 may include multiple sub-steps that may beperformed in various sequences as appropriate to the individual step.Furthermore, additional steps may be added or removed depending on theparticular applications. One of ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize many variations, modifications, and alternatives.

It is also understood that the examples and embodiments described hereinare for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications orchanges in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the artand are to be included within the spirit and purview of this applicationand scope of the appended claims.

TABLE 1 Number of RBs per user Interior region Exterior region F₁ F₂ F₃F₁ F₂ F₃ N_(RB(F)) ^(DAS−SFR−SC1) $\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{1})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{2})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{3})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{1})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{2})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{3})}}}{N_{users}}$ N_(RB(F)) ^(DAS−SFR−SC2)$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{1})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{2})}}}{\alpha^{2}N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{3})}}}{\alpha^{2}N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{1})}}}{N_{users}}$ 0 0 N_(RB(F)) ^(DAS−SFR−SC3) 0$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{2})}}}{\alpha^{2}N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{3})}}}{\alpha^{2}N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{1})}}}{\left( {1 - \alpha^{2}} \right)N_{users}}$ 00 N_(RB(F)) ^(DAS−HFR3), N_(RB(F)) ^(Con−HFR3)$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{1})}}}{N_{users}}$ 0 0$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{1})}}}{N_{users}}$ 0 0 N_(RB(F)) ^(DAS−HFR1),N_(RB(F)) ^(Con−HFR1) $\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{1})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{2})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{3})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{1})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{2})}}}{N_{users}}$$\frac{N_{{RB}^{(F_{3})}}}{N_{users}}$

TABLE 2 Simulation Parameters Parameters Value Channel Bandwidth foreach 5 MHz Frequency Part Carrier Frequency 2.14 GHz FFT size 1024Number of Resource Blocks  25 for each Frequency Part Subcarrier Spacing15 kHz Cellular Layout Hexagonal grid, 19 sites Inter-eNB Distance 500meters Log-normal Shadowing 8 dB Propagation loss 128.1 + 37.6log₁₀(R(km) White Noise Power Density −174 dBm/Hz Scheduling Round RobinTTI 1 ms

1. (canceled)
 2. A method for routing and switching operator RF signals,the method comprising: providing a plurality of Digital Remote Units(DRUs), each configured to receive one or more downlink radiofrequencies and to transmit one or more uplink radio frequencies; andproviding at least one Digital Access Unit (DAU) configured tocommunicate with at least one of the plurality of DRUs, wherein a firstDRU in a first cell is operable to communicate using a first set offrequencies characterized by a first frequency band over a firstgeographic footprint, wherein a plurality of second DRUs in the firstcell are operable to communicate using a second set of frequenciescharacterized by a second frequency band different from the firstfrequency band over a second geographic footprint surrounding the firstgeographic footprint, wherein a third DRU in a second cell is operableto communicate using the first set of frequencies over a thirdgeographic footprint, and wherein a plurality of fourth DRUs in thesecond cell are operable to communicate using a third set of frequenciescharacterized by a third frequency band different from the firstfrequency band over a fourth geographical footprint surrounding thethird geographical footprint.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the DRUscomprise remote radio units.
 4. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: communicating between a plurality of Base TransceiverStations (BTSs) coupled to the at least one DAU.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein one or more of the plurality of BTSs are coupled to the atleast one DAU using BTS sector RF connections.
 6. The method of claim 2,further comprising: transporting signals between the plurality of DRUsand the at least one DAU.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein a powerlevel associated with the first set of frequencies is less than powerlevels associated with the second set of frequencies and the third setof frequencies.
 8. A method of distributing communications frequencies,the method comprising: providing a set of communications units;transmitting and receiving, from a first communications unit of the setof communications units, a first set of frequencies characterized by afirst frequency band over a first geographic footprint; transmitting andreceiving, from a plurality of second communications units of the set ofcommunications units, a second set of frequencies characterized by asecond frequency band different from the first frequency band over asecond geographic footprint larger than and at least partiallysurrounding the first geographic footprint; transmitting and receiving,from a third communications unit of the set of communications units, athird set of frequencies including one or more frequencies in the firstfrequency band over a third geographical footprint; and transmitting andreceiving, from a plurality of fourth communications units of the set ofcommunications units, a fourth set of frequencies characterized by athird frequency band over a fourth geographical footprint larger thanand at least partially surrounding the third geographical footprint. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the set of communications units comprisesa plurality of remote units in communication with a host unit.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the first geographic footprint includes alocation of the first communications unit.
 11. The method of claim 8,wherein the second geographical footprint abuts the fourth geographicalfootprint.
 12. The method of claim 8, further comprising: transmittingand receiving, from a fifth communications unit of the set ofcommunications units, a fifth set of frequencies including one or morefrequencies in the first frequency band over a fifth geographicalfootprint; and transmitting and receiving, from a plurality of sixthcommunications units of the set of communications units, a sixth set offrequencies in a fourth frequency band over a sixth geographicalfootprint surrounding the fifth geographical footprint.
 13. Acommunications system comprising: a host unit; a first communicationsunit coupled to the host unit and operable to transmit and receivecommunications using a first set of frequencies in a first frequencyrange and associated with a first geographical footprint; a plurality ofsecond communications units coupled to the host unit and operable totransmit and receive communications using a second set of frequencies ina second frequency range and associated with a second geographicalfootprint larger than the first geographical footprint; a thirdcommunications unit coupled to the host unit and operable to transmitand receive communications using one or more frequencies of the firstset of frequencies and associated with a third geographical footprint;and a plurality of fourth communications units coupled to the host unitand operable to transmit and receive communications using a third set offrequencies in a third frequency range and associated with a fourthgeographical footprint larger than the third geographical footprint. 14.The communications system of claim 13, wherein the host unit comprises aDigital Access Unit (DAU), and at least one of the first communicationsunit, the plurality of second communications units, the thirdcommunications unit, and the plurality of fourth communications unitscomprises a Digital Remote Unit (DRU).
 15. The communications system ofclaim 13, wherein the communications using the first set of frequenciesin the first frequency range are associated with a first power level andthe communications using the second set of frequencies in the secondfrequency range are associated with a second power level greater thanthe first power level.
 16. The communications system of claim 13,wherein the communications using one or more of the first set offrequencies associated with the third geographical footprint areassociated with a first power level and the communications using thethird set of frequencies in the third frequency range are associatedwith a second power level greater than the first power level.
 17. Thecommunications system of claim 13, wherein the first geographicfootprint is characterized by a first border and the second geographicfootprint is characterized by a second border, wherein a predetermineddistance separates the first border and the second border.
 18. Thecommunications system of claim 13, wherein the first frequency range andthe second frequency range are contiguous frequency ranges.
 19. Thecommunications system of claim 13, wherein the first frequency range,the second frequency range, and the third frequency range includedistinct frequencies.